Whicker: Time for the Ducks to exhibit hang time

Ever notice that Gary Bettman can't answer a question without raising his eyes to the ceiling?

If that particular tic continues, the NHL commissioner will be seeing a lot of Scott Niedermayer.

On Friday night, the new Ducks assistant coach and 2007 Stanley Cup-winning captain returned to Kamloops, British Columbia. That is where his Western Hockey League team won one Memorial Cup and played in another final.

The Blazers retired Niedermayer's No. 28 in a ceremony that cited his 190 points in 156 games.

It was a big deal. An NHL player's junior team has much more of a hold on his memory than, say, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes would have on a Dodger's. Players live, or "billet," with families with those cities, the way Niedermayer did at the house of Roger and Sheila Paulson.

Ex-Ducks general manager Brian Burke was scheduled to be in Kamloops on Friday night, as was distinguished NHL center Mark Recchi, who was the last previous Blazer to have his jersey hoisted, in 1990.

The deciding score in Kamloops' championship-game victory over Sault Ste. Marie, in 1992, came with 15 seconds left in regulation and sprang from Niedermayer's omniscient stick.

When Ed Patterson got speared in the stomach and became nauseous, Zac Boyer jumped onto the ice and replaced him. Niedermayer, who had just intercepted a drop pass, hit Boyer in stride for the goal.

Niedermayer's No. 27 is already in New Jersey's rafters. He helped catalyze three Stanley Cup titles for the Devils, who honored him in December 2011.

Meanwhile, the Ducks have been around for 19 years and have not retired a number yet.

That is wise restraint. The more numbers, the less impact.

The Lakers have retired eight numbers and are preparing Shaquille O'Neal's No. 34 as the ninth. The Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz have also retired eight player numbers apiece. The Lakers have won 16 championships. The Suns and Jazz have combined to win none.

All eight of the honored Lakers retirees are in the Hall of Fame. Two of the Suns and four of the Jazz are.

When Burke arrived, he was aghast the Ducks were so banner starved that they raised a sign — "A Mighty Decade" — celebrating the fact they'd merely stayed in business and played all their games for 10 years.

But the Ducks have a history now. They won a Stanley Cup and went to Game 7 of the Finals in pursuit of another one. Their cast is particularly distinguished when compared to their contemporary franchises such as Florida, Tampa Bay and Columbus.

So it is time to grant some altitude to four players in particular.

One of them is not Chris Pronger. Yes, he was the last stroke of the hammer that knocked down the barrier to a Stanley Cup in 2007. And, no, the Ducks have not yet really replaced him, as if any team could.

But Pronger was only a Duck for three seasons. St.Louis has the roof that should be raised for him.

Here's how the Ducks should go about it.

•Niedermayer: Sure, Niedermayer was a Duck for only five seasons. But the Ducks won seven playoff series in those five years and he was a first team All-Star in two of them. He also was a Duck when he helped Canada win the Olympic gold medal. More than anything Niedermayer lent the franchise some of his surplus credibility. The Ducks became relevant the moment he signed.

•Jean-Sebastien Giguere: In his playoff career Giguere was 52-33 with a .925 save percentage, a Stanley Cup and a Conn Smythe Trophy, the latter of which he won in '03, the year he stopped 94.5 percent of his shots in 21 playoff games. Giguere also was a clubhouse leader and a massive confidence source.

•Paul Kariya: Fans who still consider Kariya a traitor, for his icy contract disputes and the way he left, should get over themselves. For the Ducks' second, third and fourth seasons of existence, he was the novelty that did not wear off, the main reason the joint was jammed each night. It's easy to forget that Kariya scored 50 goals when he was 21, led the league with 10 game-winners when he was 22 and was pursuing spectacular numbers when Gary Suter dealt him a concussion in 1998. Five years later Kariya was pole-axed by Scott Stevens in the Finals and returned from the locker room to score. Honda Center rose to a decibel peak not heard before or since.

•Teemu Selanne: Don't be alarmed at the sequence. The Ducks have already decided that nobody's banner goes up before Selanne's. Still, there's this rule: The number can't retire before the player does.